A Waltz to Remember
by Kageyamallama
Summary: Valkyrie remembers music and waltzing; her partner is every bit of the talk he boasts about; his movements fluid as he leads her in an elegant routine. Meaning that she can be as terrible a dancer as she likes, and they will still be the most talked about couple for centuries.


**I co-wrote this a long time ago, in my last year of high-school with a dear friend of mine and it was posted on my other multi-chapter valduggery collections. But I decided to take it down and re-write it as my old shit is cringe.**

**Took inspiration from this YouTube video ( watch?v=j8Fnp7DLNUA) for the dance choreography.**

**:-)**

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Valkyrie remembers music and waltzing; her partner is every bit of the talk he boasts about; his movements fluid as he leads her in an elegant routine. Meaning that she can be as terrible a dancer as she likes, and they will _still_ be the most talked about couple for centuries. She's aware of all the eyes on her and her leading partner, in any other situation she'd shudder away from all the attention, but, right now, she's too exhilarated to care. Her dress – a strapless, full length, rich black gown – clings to her built frame and splays out as he spins her. As he does, Valkyrie is finally aware they have cleared the entire floor. The other dancers, too distracted by the mesmerizing couple, simply forgot to keep moving, abandoning the floor in favour to watch from the sidelines. Creating somewhat of a circle around the captivating couple, spotlighting them for all to see.

Valkyrie briefly spots Ghastly with Tanith, remnant freshly extracted from her courtesy of Dr. Nye, as her partner dips her sensually and she smiles at them. They give a little wave back and her partner gracefully whips her back up to face him. Giving her no choice but to look into the empty sockets where his eyes should be and she looks away swiftly, unable to meet the intense gaze somehow coming from those empty hollows. He murmurs something about how terrible a dancer she is, and Valkyrie tilts her head back as she laughs, letting herself be led by the man in the exquisitely tailored suit.

Valkyrie hasn't been paying much attention to anything, much less to the song reverberating around the room until Detective Pleasant starts to hum the lyrics in her ear as they move. She involuntarily shivers as he does so, his voice like velvet as it hits the shell of her ear, Skulduggery laughs softly as he feels it.

_Me and Mrs. Jones, we got a thing going on_

_We both know that it's wrong_

_But it's much too strong to let it go now_

_Everyone's whispering to themselves now, not daring to take their eyes of the dancing pair, not even for a second. Valkyrie can hear the sound of hushed whispers over the music as she glides along the polished floor. He's still singing softly in her ear with his smooth voice, and the hand that is not already preoccupied with Valkyries own is travelling down her back, border lining venereal terrain._

_We meet every day at the same cafe_

_Six-thirty, I know she'll be there_

_Holding hands, making all kinds of plans_

_While the jukebox plays our favorite song_

Valkyrie starts to wonder if she's heard this song before, it sounds familiar to her, so nice, coming from Skulduggery. She refuses to look at him until it clicks and feels herself blushing faintly as she remembers. The shunt threatening to happen, Skulduggery climbing in through her window, refusing to leave her alone, the soft lyrics he sang her from across her bedroom, lulling her to sleep.

She twirls out, Skulduggery pulls her back into him and his hand briefly glides out of friendly territory. He tilts his skull in such a manner that Valkyrie just knows he's smirking at her. He sends her out again, but this time Valkyrie bends at her knees and their arms interlock as Skulduggery spins her, feet dragging delicately as he supports her weight. She looks up at him, feeling the tendrils of her hair fly out with the force of the spin, she wonders how they managed to pull this technical move off. She's set back on her feet again as Skulduggery draws her back in, dance almost over.

_Me and Mrs., Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Jones_

_We got a thing going on_

_We both know that it's wrong_

_But it's much too strong to let it go now_

Valkyrie feels his bony leg on the tops of her thighs as he leads her around the expanse of floor once again, Valkyrie smiling all the way. For _once_ there are no bad guys, no disaster they have to fix, no world to save. Just Skulduggery Pleasant's skeletal frame so close to her own, whisking her around the floor at the Sanctuaries'' Requiem Ball. She barely captures a glimpse of the blur of familiar faces as they move, Skulduggery pulls at their conjoined hands, placing them over where his heart would be if he still had one, forcing Valkyrie to move in- just that little bit closer. She meets his gaze once again, twin voids staring directly at her and, this time, she can't bring herself to look away.

_We gotta be extra careful_

_That we don't build our hopes too high_

_'Cause she's got her own obligations, and so do I_

_Me and Mrs., Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Jones_

He twirls her close to him once more and pulls her arm onto his back, drawing her in close. Valkyrie slides her hand from his back, to his shoulder, and down to his waiting gloved, hand. They continue to waltz around yet again, riding out the last few chords of the song.

She spins out from him again, under his influence, and they let go of each other's hands, just as the music stops. Song over.

The mass of bystanders' clap and cheer for the both of them, the pair already stepping to the side as the crowd disperses back onto the floor Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain just made history on. The waltz changes to some different variation of ballroom dance, the musicians – still in awe of the previous performance – struggle to keep up with the seemingly sudden change in music. The other guests nod and murmur among themselves, not noticing the errors in music as they start to dance once again.

"Well detective Pleasant," Valkyrie struggles to say in-between the big gasps of air she's breathing in, "You're as every bit as good as you say you are."

"I know." Skulduggery says, a teasing tone mixed in with his velvety voice. Not a single trace of weariness coming from him.

This moment ends abruptly, a loud crash is heard throughout the immaculate hall as the table closest to Ghastly is thrown halfway across the room. The body going with it unrecognizable in the twisting tablecloth, making Valkyrie jump from the unexpected noise and Skulduggery instinctively reach for his gun, ensuring it's where it's supposed to be. Voices can be heard in the crowd, small gasps and screams of surprise, as the figure in the tablecloth tries to scuffle free.

"Now, what in tarnation' did ya do that for?" Sanguine drawls as he detangles himself from the grips of the black cloth, cursing as he stumbles a bit, struggling to get free.

"All I want is her," He lazily gestures to Tanith, who glares back. "Then ya'll can go back to celebratin' whatever the heck ya'll celebratin'."

Ghastly ignores every single word that comes out of Sanguine's mouth as he takes long strides across the room, in a state of hatred so deep and powerful, that most of the room mistakes it as a sense of calm. Without breaking his stride, Ghastly throws such a devastating uppercut, delivered with his very _specific_ hatred of the blond-haired Texan and his natural aptitude as a boxer, that it sends Sanguine flying once more.

Sanguine takes down a few bystanders as his body flings uselessly across the floor and, somehow, the Texan remains conscious as he struggles to stand upright once again. He groans as he pulls a long, thin bladed knife out of his pocket. Not hesitating to charge at Ghastly, snarling as he does so.

This… This imbecile, this absolute moron, this complete and utter idiot, just ruined one of the most important celebrations in sorcerer history. He ruined a perfectly good table and had probably ruined a good handful of other things in his life. But Valkyrie didn't need much of an excuse, she steps around Skulduggery and drops the champagne flute she was holding, making a point out of it. The glass met the ground with a smash, she shoots a wall of air towards Sanguine, precisely aiming to leave Ghastly unharmed as they sparred. She clicks her fingers and catches a flame in the palm of her hand, throwing out a combination of air and fire, assaulting Sanguine with an improvised flamethrower.

Sanguine barely dodges the flames as he flips to the side, narrowly evading both Ghastly's and Valkyrie's attacks. She lunges at him after he lands, not giving him a change to recover after the manoeuvre. Even though she's dressed in a tight, full length dress and heels, not exactly appropriate battle attire, she still manages to kick the ever-loving shit out of him.

Skulduggery, sick of watching his partner have all the fun, glides in beside her to join in on the ass-kicking himself. Sanguine manages to sink down through the floor and reappear through the cracked ground a few meters away- apparently not intending to retreat until he gets what he came for. Unknowingly placing himself directly in front of Ghastly, not noticing as his attention was directed at the pair of detectives rushing at him.

Ghastly, seeing this as his chance to inflict some long-awaited pain, slaps at Sanguine's wrist nonchalantly, sending the blade clattering down to the ground. Ghastly delivers another well-placed punch and Sanguine retaliates.

Tanith, still watching from the other side of the room, curses as she reaches for her sword, remembering her decision to forgo her weapon of choice in favour of fashion. She wonders to herself if she should at least help with the taking down of Sanguine and decides against it. They've got it covered, she thinks, laughing to herself as Ghastly swiftly kicks Sanguine in the stomach and Skulduggery pushes a snap of air that knocks him on his arse. Valkyrie fly-kicking him in the face as he goes down.

Dinner _and _a show, Tanith thinks, this is the _best _Requiem Ball so far.

Valkyrie jets out a bunch of shadows, holding Sanguine in place on the floor, as Ghastly pulls back his fist.

"Oh, hell." Sanguine mutters, not having time or the energy required to sink through the floor again.

Ghastly's powerful punch lands straight into Sanguine's nose with a sickening crack that reverberates throughout the silent dancehall. Fight clearly over as Sanguine slumps down unconsciously to the floor.

Ghastly, seeing no reason to stick around, strides back to Tanith, leaving the crumpled heap of idiot on the floor.

"Do you think we should cuff him?" Valkyrie asks, not really expecting an answer.

"Judging from the sound of that punch, I don't think he'll be getting back up in a while. Even then, that is going to be one serious concussion." Skulduggery replies, taking her hand in him again and stepping over Sanguine's body to continue their dance once more, as _Me and Mr's Jones_ is played again.

That's odd, she thinks to herself. How many times has this song been played? Valkyrie can't recall.

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Skulduggery waltzes with nobody. Lazily stepping through the moves in a small room.

_"It's okay_," he thinks,_ "No one is here anyway, Valkyrie isn't here to tease me."_

He dances through the individual steps until the song finishes and by the end, he's on his knees, looking up at the pyramid-shaped cube that traps his partner. The accelerator powering her eternal prison. Skulduggery knew that if he was able to cry, all his tears would be for her.

The song plays over again, for the thousand time that night but he's too weak to get up from his knees.

A few replays later, he somehow finds the strength inside himself to stand, looking at her in her coma-like state, locked inside herself. She's just as beautiful as the day they locked her in there, he thinks, she went willingly- bravely.

Skulduggery leans his head up against it, eliciting a clink, for the fourth time of the 39th year. Remembering just as fondly the Requiem Ball 42 years prior, his skeletal fingers tracing over the glass, so close to her yet so far away. A promise bubbles from him, the same one as every year and one that he'll preserve each year beyond this one.

He'll promise her and he'll promise her again as her eternal keeper, a thousand times over,

_Until the end._

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**This fic is basically what my friend and I thought would happen if Valkyrie had to be locked in the cube.**

**I'm in the middle of a massive account re-write, because I miss writing fanficion and it's nostalgic to go back and look over my own crap. **

**You can interact with me on my tumblr or my twitter = both handles are 'kageyamallama'**


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